Frieze NY heats up city's art-fair scene

The four-day fair from London that hosts 190 galleries and attracts 45,000 patrons is encouraging a growing number of smaller fairs to set up shop, in the hopes that they will lure some of its visitors.

Frieze New York has inspired other art fairs to set up shop in New York City.Photo: Bloomberg News

Updated:May 9, 2014 11:58 a.m.

At least two new art fairs made their debuts in New York last week, bringing the options for collectors to about a dozen.

May has become an art-fair extravaganza in the city since Frieze New York, an offshoot of the famed London fair, started setting up shop on Randall's Island three years ago. (This year's fair took place May 9 to 12.) Smaller satellite fairs began cropping up to capitalize on all the collectors who come to that four-day event, as well as the big art auctions at Christie's and Sotheby's. Frieze attracted 45,000 visitors in 2013.

A spokeswoman for Frieze said that exhibitors and visitors to the fair spent $95.4 million last year on hotels, restaurants and other services.

'Looking to buy'

The two new entrants, the Downtown Fair and the Select Fair, both of which ran May 8 to 11, joined the list of satellite events to lure some of the collectors who come to town to shop at Frieze, which featured more than 190 galleries under its Randall's Island tent this year.

"We think we are a complement to Frieze," said Nick Korniloff, director of and partner in the Downtown Fair, which displayed 51 exhibitors and works from about 600 artists at the 69th Regiment Armory at Lexington Avenue and East 25th Street.

Mr. Korniloff and his partners have produced art fairs in Miami and Southampton, L.I., but he said they decided it was time to come to New York because of the hot art market.

"The market is extremely strong now," he said. "People are looking to buy."

The art market has been red-hot, but sales could be slowing. Sales at the Christie's auction last Tuesday totaled $285.9 million. That was above its low estimate of $244.5 million, but far short of the high estimate of $360 million. At Sotheby's impressionist and modern auction the next night, about one-third of the pieces failed to attract buyers. The contemporary auctions, which typically bring in higher totals, are happening this week.

Mr. Korniloff said his fair differs from some of the others because it puts more emphasis on reselling works from artists rather than offering new pieces that have never been sold before. "We offer more of a mix," he said.

Brian Whiteley, co-director of the Select Fair, said collectors stopping by his space at 135 W. 18th St. would see a number of installations and video pieces.

Standing out

"We are really trying to animate the space itself," said Mr. Whiteley, who has produced two art fairs in Miami. "We are targeting the new collector."

Standing out can be a challenge, however, as the number of fairs grows.

"People don't have time to do everything," said Helen Toomer, who took over as director of the Pulse Contemporary Art Fair three months ago. She said she has tried to improve the experience for collectors and the galleries exhibiting. She pared back the number of exhibitors at the May 8-11 event to 50 from 60 in order to make browsing less overwhelming for shoppers. In addition, all the galleries were on one floor at the Metropolitan Pavilion at 125 W. 18th St. instead of two, and the layout ensured shoppers would see all the exhibitors.

Ms. Toomer said the number of fairs has grown because both collectors and galleries realize they make sense.

"People like seeing everything under one roof," she said. "They don't have time to go to browse in galleries anymore."

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